The Artist and the Designer
by bleedingnightingale
Summary: One-shots/two-shots of prompts given to me from tumblr. These stories revolve around Marinette and Nathanael, an adorable ship that needs more love. They range from sweet tales from school life, or what-ifs with the Evillustrator.
1. The Coat Challenge

**This is where I will post one-shot/2 chapter prompts that are given to me. If a prompt goes into its third chapter, it shall get it's own story.**

 **This prompt was given to me from** **lovelyblogtime** **on tumblr. They asked for a story where Marinette creates something, then asks Nathanael to model it. Hopefully they'll like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, nor any of its characters.**

 **Quick Authors Note: I have no sense of fashion or style what so ever! So I had a little trouble actually coming up for a design for the coat. So if it doesn't seem like Marinette level amazingness, that's because this writer has no eye for fashion.**

* * *

It was another fashion contest. Apparently, Mr. Agreste was impressed enough to allow Adrien's class another shot at designing another piece for Adrien's latest photo shoot. The announcement almost made Marinette scream for joy, her mind already buzzing with concepts and color coding. And this time luck decided to smile at her by giving her an easier challenge: a coat for the upcoming fall edition.

However an easier challenge meant more students were lining up for the signup sheet; the competition was open to two other classes. The prospect of going against almost half her class plus others made her nerves tingle, had it not been for Alya's encouraging speech. Plus she was the only one in the class that was actually a designer, so once Marinette was able to breathe she almost felt as confident as Ladybug.

And thankfully, there were more rules put into play. For starters, you had to submit your sketch by the end of the second day of the competition to Natalie. Any later and you would not be allowed to participate. Mr. Agreste himself didn't look at them, but Marinette had a sneaking suspicion this rule was set to avoid repeating the embarrassing Chloe incident.

Whether it was because she was in her element, Alya and Tikki becoming her personal cheerleaders (separately of course), or Adrien's drop dead gorgeous smile as he wished her luck for a second win, everything seemed to fall exactly into place. Although difficult to pick a final design, finding the perfect fabric turned into hours of walking around the local crafts store, by the weeks end she was proud of her final result.

And if she must say so herself, it looked pretty damn good. Although Adrien was the chosen model, she needed her coat to look as if anyone could wear it. She found a lovely shade of a dusty gray. The inside was lined with a shining light gray silk giving it the allusion of looking like silver. The stitching was black, but she found a similar silver colored thread for the cuffs, and of course for her signature which she hit under the collar.

Her favorite pieces were the three large buttons on the front. Instead of making them black plastic, he covered them in the same dark gray felt, then stitched an 'x' on each one of them, with a small silver dot in the blank spaces.

Not only would it look stunning on her precious Adrien, but she felt that anyone would be able to pull it off. An everybody jacket.

* * *

Come the day of the final showing, the sweet designer forgot one small detail…

"Oh no! I need a model!" So concentrated on finishing her design, working around all the kinks of doing it the first time around, her heart jumped to her throat as she surveyed the area, each competitor fitting their coats on their chosen model. Blue eyes glanced towards her friend out of the corner of her eye. "Hey Alya…?"

"Don't you need a male model? Because it's a jacket for Adrien to wear?" Despite feeling bad for her dear friend, that didn't stop a smirk from crawling onto her face. Of course she would forget something like this.

"What happened to gender equality?!"

"Relax hon. I'm sure you can find someone to stand still for a few minutes." Alya patted her on the back while Marinette chewed on her nails deep in thought.

"Nino maybe?"

"I think he got asked by Juleka."

"Huh."

The response caused the straw berried haired girl to raise an eyebrow. "What?"

With a shrug her friend responded, "I never assumed they were that close."

"I thought so too. Apparently when she was still in the sketching process he passed by and complimented her designs, so she asked him." Ah. That's how. Nino was very friendly and Juleka was a quiet person on her own accord. It made sense that she asked him.

"Well shoot, have to cross him out. Max? No, I saw him wearing someone else's jacket…Kim maybe? Might be too big." The dark haired designer mentally going through her male classmates.

"I mean I won't deny it, Nino is rocking the goth look-"

"I think it's too small for Ivan…"

"-just thought that Juleka would've asked Nathanael since they're already close friends-"

"Nathanael…Nathanael? NATHANAEL!" It was as if bells were ringing in her head. And Alya's ears from her friend's outburst.

"What? What? What's the matter girl?" Alya watched as her best friend began to jump up and down while her head swung wildly about the room. "Who are you looking for?"

"You haven't heard if Nathanael is competing or modeling have you?"

"I…don't see him. Plus I think this isn't his type-" She never had the chance to finish her thought before a gust of wind blew past her, trailing after Marinette as she dashed away. "Where are you going? Mari!"

"Hold down the fort!" Was the only thing she called back with. Alya could only roll her eyes, but she stilled smiled.

* * *

"Juleka! Rose!" She gasped out when she skidded to a halt. "Nino!"

"Well hello Marinette! Checking out the competition?" the goth joked. Most strangers were intimidated by her dark style initially, but the goth was in reality one of the friendliest people one could come across. Which was why the sweetheart Rose was her best friend.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Nathanael is, would you? Is he still here? Is he competing or modeling?" Marinette's words tumbled out quickly. It took both girls and the boy a second to put together what she was asking them. Once it translated, the girls exchanged a surprised look that quickly melted into twin mischievous smiles (which looked a little off on Rose's face) while Nino, being the good friend he was, searched the room.

"Heh, no; being put on the spot with dozens of people staring at him isn't his style." Juleka answered first. "Umm…he usually stays here for lunch, his place is a bit of a walk away…Rose?"

"Probably in the courtyard, though he said he'd pass by later." The small blonde turned to smile at her classmate. Except she wasn't there. "When did she leave?"

"When you said, 'courtyard'." Nino responded. Again the opposite looking girls shared a grin before sharing a chuckle between the two of them, Rose cutely hiding her mouth behind her hands. "What are you two giggling about?"

"Hehehe oh nooooooothing." Rose giggled.

"Just thinking about a certain someone's reaction." The purple haired girls eyes drifted towards the courtyard.

* * *

Bursting through the doors, Mari swung her head about, franticly muttering under her breath, "Gotta find him, gotta find him, gotta find-" blue eyes zeroed in on the red head, about to take another bite out of his sandwich. Never in her life did she think she would be so relieved to see another boy that wasn't Adrien. "Nathanael!"

"Eh?" He jumped, not expecting to be jostled out of his thoughts. A small sigh escaped from his lips, and pink dusted his cheeks. He was in the middle of another daydream as Super Nathan rescuing Marinette. So when he turned towards the familiar sound he wasn't expecting to see said girl rushing towards him. "M-marinette?"

"Nath…an…ael…thank…goodness…." Skidding to a halt, bent over to catch her breath. Now that she saw that he was unoccupied, adrenaline slowly trickled out, and she was left gasping from her frantic search. Once she gulped enough air, she lifted her face, trying her best to give him a smile.

"Uwa…." His response was pathetic, but it was all he could muster with the site before him; her cheeks were flushed, and she just looked so happy to see him. His original blush went another shade darker.

"I've been…looking for…you….huwa…."

"Y-y-y-uou've b-been-been…me?" And another shade.

"Nathanael….oh….okay! Better!" Full breath regained the designer stood up facing her classmate. Instinct from doing it constantly with Chat Noir, she placed both hands on his shoulders, pulling him closer to the point of their noses touching. Any normal day and she either would have felt awkward about the closeness, or she would have been more aware of the small distance. But time was of the essence.

"Nathanael, I need you!"

.

.

.

"…..ael….anael...Nathanael?"

It was like his second best fantasy had become reality. Her movements were eerily similar to the ones that played out in his imagination only a few minutes ago. Either he knew her too well, or life was giving him a wonderful gift.

Except in his fantasy he was Super Nathan, and instead of standing there like a complete idiot he took her in his arms smiling all the way.

"Umm…hello?" A few blinks and he was brought back to reality. Marinette was still standing in front of him, joy replaced with nervousness and a jittery bounce. "Not to pressure you or anything but this isn't the best time to be spacing out! What's wrong? Please don't-"

Natalie's voice reached both of their ears. "Mr. Agreste is now online. Please take your positions."

"Ahhhh!" The dark haired girl released the artist, pulling at her pigtails harshly. Now she looked like she was a victim in a horror film. "Nathanael please, I need your help!"

"Yes!" He didn't hesitate. Why would he? His dream girl came to him, asking for his help. Whatever it was, he could do it. The toothy grin and sparkling eyes were worth it.

"Wonderful!" She exclaimed. Without further explanation he found himself being dragged by both wrists towards the school doors.

"Ahh-!"

* * *

"Thank goodness there was a bigger turnout. You've still got a few minutes." The practicing journalist chuckled as Marinette helped her new, still dazed, model into her coat.

"I can't thank you enough for doing this!" She all up cried out, nervously patting and smoothing down sections of it. So busy fixing it up it never occurred to her that maybe her small touches and pats along his chest and sides her stirring up the sensations of butterflies in the red head's stomach.

"N-n-no pr-problem…" He managed to stutter out.

"Well, well, well, I think he actually pulls it off. What do you think?" Alya slid next to Nathanael, draping her arm along his shoulders. Of course if she was honest her first thoughts was that the boy was too skinny to wear it. Once she got a better look at him up close, coupled with her friend's amazing craftsmanship, he was actually kind of cute.

Marinette worthy cute.

Said designer wasn't paying too much attention. "Hmm? Oh, sure." Ouch. The straw berried hair girl could see the hurt look in the poor boy's face. When both girls took a step back, Marinette placed her hand on her cheek, crossing the other to hug her waist. "Huh…you know you're right."

It surprised her. All she really needed was a body to put the jacket on, but she was so wrapped up with the idea of Adrien wearing it that she forgot the most important part of her work: anybody could wear it.

Deciding to cause some mischief, Alya added. "You could almost pass for a real model."

"U-uh…" was all the boy could respond with while his entire face turned the same shade as his hair.

With a final hug for Marinette and a thumbs up for Nathanael, Alya made her way towards the rest of the audience on the side.

* * *

At long last, Adrien and Natalie strode over, the latter holding the tablet straight as Gabriel Agreste's stony face could be seen. Both students felt intimidated.

Before the judge came over, the artist felt a warm hand on his. He didn't need to look to know it was Marinette's. She squeezed it only once before he felt warmth spread throughout his entire body. This time he fought back the blush. Here he was, standing here for her sake and she was comforting him. From only her hand he could tell she was shaking. So he did the only thing he could think of: before she could let go, he squeezed back. A few more steps from the oncoming group, and they were still holding eachothers hands.

One last step, they released the others' hand.

"Ah, I remember you. You won the last challenge and stood your ground against the copy cat."

"Y-yes sir, that was me." Despite the stutter in the beginning he could hear her confidence.

"Well then, what do you have for me this time around?"

Marinette stepped into Nathanael's view point. Her calm and collected nature was kicking in. As she described her work, peeling back the bottom corner to show the inside, lifting up the collar where apparently her signature was, you wouldn't have guessed that she was a nervous wreck a few minutes before.

It was a foolish idea, but Nathanael couldn't help but stand a little taller at the thought that his action of holding her hand gave some of the encouragement that she needed. But it was only a thought…

"Hmm…" The famous designer squinted at her coat. It took everything Nathanael had to not pull into himself. How badly he wanted to run away, to hide behind his bangs. But he had to remind himself of two things. First, he wasn't being examined, it was the beautiful jacket he was currently wearing. Second, he was doing this for Marinette. She deserved to win. She deserved everything her heart desired. And he would gladly comply to them. If only he was given the chance…if only he had the courage…

"The buttons…" He said at last. Marinette's pulse quickened. Of course he would point out the part she worked the hardest on. "They are well made, but they pull too much focus from the rest of the piece. A size too big. The design itself doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the coat." And that was his final word.

It was as if her entire being had deflated. Glancing at her from behind his bangs, he could see her fighting to keep her face even, her smile on, and as she gave a small bow of appreciation, Nathanael could see her shoulders sagging.

As Natalie took her leave, Adrien gave her a small smile before trailing behind his father's secretary.

Despite her crush's encouraging smile, Marinette couldn't keep her own on any longer. The buttons…she had put so much effort into them, the design and the act of making them. They proved to be quite the challenge, hence her growing pride when she had completed them.

It was silent around her station, until the momentary model broke it.

"I like them." He murmured.

Surprised by the noise, her blue eyes widened slightly, glancing towards him. "Hmm?"

"The buttons….th-they're my favorite part." She could see his face turning red as he said it. Her cheek twitched slightly wanting to smile towards his kind remark, but couldn't find it in her.

"Aww...Mari they're just buttons. I think they're great too!" the journalist chimed in.

"But Mr. Agreste doesn't."

* * *

"The winner is…Marinette Cheng." The gym was quickly filled with applause that covered a few groans.

Natalie walked towards the now stunned designer once more. Despite the approval shown in his face, Gabriel Agreste was still a scary individual. "You've surprised me once again by taking a classic coat, reworking it for today's modern fashion world. Fix the buttons, and Adrien will wear it at his next photo shoot." Once again he kept it brief, and was soon gone.

"Congratulations Marinette!" Nino came over, still donning Juleka's trench coat. Marinette sent him a smile while being dragged into a crushing hug from Alya.

"Amazing! I knew you'd win!"

"Eeeeee! I'm so happy!" She hugged back, before remembering that Nathanael was still there. When Alya finally released her, the first thing she did was face her red haired classmate, who was giving her a warm smile himself. Immediately she began to gush. "Oh, thank you Nathanael! I'm sorry this took up the majority of your lunch."

"Anytime…uwa, h-here…!" The boy moved to undo the buttons, once again blushing from her excitement.

"Oh, thank-" She paused, her arm reached out in a gesture to take it from him. Her eyes narrowed, and Nathanael began to panic. Did he screw something up? Was he taking it off wrong?

"No."

"Huh?"

Her large blue eyes looked straight into his, her cheeks reddening. "In gratitude for letting me steal you away, would you like it?"

Both Nino and Alya's jaws dropped. Nathanael's hit the floor. "What?! B-b-but you n-need it f-for-" She couldn't be serious. He wasn't even her friend! Just a quiet admirer…not that she needed to know that.

Marinette only giggled. She placed her hand on the artist's shoulder in hopes to calm him down. It helped that they were the same height. Everything in her was telling her that this was the right thing. She was sure Tikki would approve.

"It took me a few days to put it together because I needed to figure out all the details. Now that I made it once, it will take me even less time." That was true.

"B-but won't that be more expensive?" He looked like a dear caught in headlights. A very cute deer.

At that thought the dark haired girl blushed. Where did that come from? She gave her head a slight shake before continuing.

"I have enough left over fabric. Besides, you said you really liked the buttons…and honestly, so do I. I'd be sad to see them go. So…" Still blushing- for whatever reason she couldn't think of – she bit her bottom lip, placing her other hand on his free shoulder. Looking into his eyes, she felt her pulse picking up again…weird. "For me, keep the original safe?"

His eyes widened. Marinette had never noticed them before. They were this odd blue-green mix. Was it possible to have teal eyes?

Why was she thinking about his eyes?

While Marinette struggled with these new ideas flittering in her head, Nathanael's shocked ebbed away, being replaced by a sweet smile.

"I promise."

* * *

Back in the comfort of his room, it took the teal eyed boy a few minutes the find the "perfect" hanger for his new jacket…that his crush made…the jacket hand made by his dream girl that let him keep it because she was proud of her lovely work as she should be….the girl of his dreams that made this jacket and is letting him keep it.

He still couldn't believe it.

Even after he hung it up, he just stood in his closet admiring it before his phone buzzed, distracting him.

From: Juleka  
[I bet you're one happy little flower ;) ]

He couldn't stop his eyes from rolling, still smiling from the day's events. With one hand texting while the only still gently held a sleeve he responded.

[Shut up Jule]

From: Juleka  
[Aww! But you looked so cute, blushin and all. I swear it looked like you were going to faint when she first said that she needed you! Haha]

He stared at the text for a few seconds before typing with both hands.

[How did you know about that?]

From: Juleka  
[We could see you outside the window, and I had Rose snoop for information]

[You two scare me sometimes…]

From: Juleka  
[We do it because we care!]

[Uh huh]

From: Juleka  
[Maybe you'll become her regular model]

[You're being mean now]

From: Juleka  
[Maybe you'll model something so hard, she'll fall into your waiting arms unable to take your amazingness XD]

His face heated up. That was fantasy number five. Not that Jule knew, it was coincidence that she said that. Like it was coincidence that Marinette turned fantasy number two into real life.

His first and favorite being Marinette kissing him…

[Haha…goodnight Jule. See you tomorrow]

From: Juleka  
[You're thinking about it]

[Goodnight Jule]

Thinking that was the end of their conversation, he slipped his phone back into pants pocket. He gave his new jacket one final look before walking out of his closet, purposely leaving the door open.

His phone buzzed again. Guess it wasn't the end.

From: Juleka  
[…]

That's confusing.

[What?]

From: Juleka  
[You want to draw it now, don't you?]

[GOODNIGHT JULE]

From: Juleka  
[I'm telling Rose!]

With a final snort of air through his nose, he lightly tossed his phone on his bed. He glanced at his open closet, the jacket hanging proudly. He fell backwards, landing on his bed with a slight bounce, legs dangling off the edge by his knees. Propping his head up with his arms, a love struck sigh was released.

"Amazing…she's amazing…"

His phone buzzed again.

From: Rose  
[Don't forget the heart eyes! ;P ]

[GOODNIGHT ROSE]

* * *

 **Once I got the design for the jacket done, it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, haha.**

 **If you have any prompts you'd like to send me, please do! I promise you shall receive the credit for the original idea.**

 **Please read and review!**

 **~bleedingnightingale**


	2. AN I'm not dead but I'm coming back!

Dear followers,

No, I'm not dead! I apologize, I should have stated this much, MUCH earlier, but at the time I didn't think my fanfic writing would be pushed to the side.

I've been studying abroad in Ireland for this semester. When I first arrived in January I thought I'd be busy, but still motivated Long story short, when you're seeing and experiencing new things, it gives you creativity for your own stories, but not necessarily the fanfics.

I'll be returning in mid May, and once I do the chapters will be uploaded once more. Still, I'm very sorry for not mentioning this sooner. So if you've sent me a prompt via my tumblr or in the reviews or messaged me on here, they have been taken note of, don't worry :)

ALSO I know that many of you will be disappointed to see this instead of an update (trust me I've had my fair share of those moments on here), and that usually if someone posts a chapter like this, it means they're probably not coming back or won't for a very long time.

Well true, I won't be back for about 6 more weeks (the last one is to gather my bearings and such), but I promise you that the prompt requests and chapter updates will return!

To get you excited though, here's a sneak peak at the next prompt coming up! This one's almost finished actually, just needs the ending typed up.

* * *

 **nyathanael** **from tumblr asked for a story where Marinette and Nathanael end up sharing an ice cream because one of them dropped theirs.**

 **Summary: After deciding to treat herself, Marinette bumps into Nathanael in front of a well-received ice cream parlor.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, or their characters.**

 **XXX**

One bus ride later Marinette was a few steps away from entering the parlor. It looked like a standard shop, with a large ice cream cone on the sign with two scoops next to the name. It was quite charming.

She had just put her hand on the handle when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar mop of red hair. She pivoted her body a little more to see the red head more closely. Confirming her suspicion, her lips tugged up into a small smile.

True, he wasn't he most social being in her class, could hardly look her in the eye when it was just the two of them, but she'd seen glimpses of his drawings. Marinette couldn't help but be a little envious of his skills. Designing didn't require the most detailed sketches as long as you got the main point across and it was more than scribbles, but once in a while she couldn't help but feel envious of his ability to draw down his ideas.

Marinette quickly debated whether or not to pull him from whatever daydream he was lost in as he walked closer with his head down, a large white paper bag weighing his left hand.

"Nathanael?

"Oh! Marinette!" The boy flinched when she'd first called out, but when he lifted his head he took on a blush. Probably embarrassed that he wasn't paying close attention to his surroundings. "H-hello." He added feebly with a tiny wave.

"How're you doing?"

"Good, fine, yeah…" His voiced trailed off as he shifted his gaze to the ground again. He always seemed to do this whenever it was just the two of them, but before she could ask another question he beat her to it. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you around this area before."

She shrugged, "Ah-um, let's just say I had a very stressful week. I couldn't remember the last time I had ice cream and I just had this funny craving for it. Also heard wonderful things about this place so I thought I'd treat myself today."

"I've been here before- they have a large selection. Good luck trying to pick something out." Towards the end he finally looked at her, even sending a small smile. In return she giggled. He was sweet when he was on his own.

But she didn't know him too well outside of class. Maybe…

She glanced up towards the ice cream parlor before quickly switching back to the boy.

"Would you care to join me?"

The last thing she expected him to do was to just about three feet into the air. As he sputtered out something she couldn't understand, her own panic settled in. Marinette quickly held out her arms in front of her. "Oh, I'm sorry! If you have to be somewhere-"

That made him pause. "Be somewhere?" She raised both eye brows and pointed to his bag with a nod of her head. Nathanael gave her a confused look before following her gaze. "AH! Heh, no," it finally seemed like he calmed down, "I just bought this. Personal stuff. I don't have anywhere to be. I'd…I'd love to join you." The blush came back to his face when Marinette gave him a warm smile before heading into the parlor.

He was kind of cute when he blushed.

* * *

That was take from somewhere between the beginning and the middle. Hope that can tide you over for a bit!

See you all in a few weeks!

~bleedingnightingale


End file.
